Description

Fifty years ago, Norman Mailer asserted, "William Burroughs is the only American novelist living today who may conceivably be possessed by genius." Few since have taken such literary risks, developed such individual political or spiritual ideas, or spanned such a wide range of media. Burroughs wrote novels, memoirs, technical manuals, and poetry. He painted, made collages, took thousands of photographs, produced hundreds of hours of experimental recordings, acted in movies, and recorded more CDs than most rock bands. Burroughs was the original cult figure of the Beat Movement, and with the publication of his novel "Naked Lunch," which was originally banned for obscenity, he became a guru to the 60s youth counterculture. In CALL ME BURROUGHS, biographer and Beat historian Barry Miles presents the first full-length biography of Burroughs to be published in a quarter century-and the first one to chronicle the last decade of Burroughs's life and examine his long-term cultural legacy.
Written with the full support of the Burroughs estate and drawing from countless interviews with figures like Allen Ginsberg, Lucien Carr, and Burroughs himself, CALL ME BURROUGHS is a rigorously researched biography that finally gets to the heart of its notoriously mercurial subject.show more

Review quote

"CALL ME BURROUGHS takes us deeply inside the magical life of the great writer. Miles's decision to tell the epic story through William Burroughs's search for his 'Ugly Spirit' makes for sensational reading. Brilliant, tragic, controversial, and inspiring, CALL ME BURROUGHS is a beautiful work." "Victor Bockris, author of "With William Burroughs: A Report from the Bunker," "Conversations with William Burroughs" and "Andy Warhol, and Burroughs in the Bunker"""show more

About Barry Miles

p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Barry Miles is the author of many seminal books on popular culture, including the authorized biography of Paul McCartney, "Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now"; "Ginsberg: A Biography"; "William Burroughs: El Hombre Invisible"; "Jack Kerouac: King of the Beats"; and "The Beat Hotel: Ginsberg, Burroughs, and Corso in Paris, 1957-1963." He also co-edited the Revised Text Edition of "Naked Lunch. Miles" was born in Cirencester, England.show more